Facial recognition system can identify people wearing masks

NEC's Shinya Takashima demonstrates the company's facial recognition system

Credit: Reuters

A facial recognition system that can identify individuals even when they are wearing a mask has launched in Japan.

The technology, created by Japanese company NEC, works in less than a second and claims to have an accuracy rate of more than 99.9pc.

The system determines when a person is wearing a covering and hones in on the parts that are visible, such as the eyes and surrounding areas, to verify the subject’s identity. Users register a photo of their face in advance.

NEC had been working on the system before the pandemic hit in order to help security firms identify allergy sufferers who regularly wore masks — something which is commonplace throughout much of Japan.

“Needs grew even more due to the coronavirus situation as the state of emergency (last year) was continuing for a long time, and so we’ve now introduced this technology to the market,” Shinya Takashima, assistant manager of NEC’s digital platform division, said in an interview with Reuters.

The system went on sale in October and already counts Lufthansa and Swiss International Airlines among its clients.

NEC said the kit can be used at security gates in office buildings and other facilities. It is also being trialled for use for automated payments in an unmanned convenience store.

The company is targeting 100 billion yen (£702.4m) in sales this year from its biometrics and video analysis business, which includes its facial recognition tech.

“Touchless verification has become extremely important due to the impact of the coronavirus,” Mr Takashima said.

“Going forward we hope to contribute to safety and peace of mind by strengthening (efforts) in that area.”

Face masks have caused considerable trouble for facial recognition cameras. According to a report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, facial recognition systems fail to identify 20-50pc of images of people wearing face masks.

The use of facial recognition has grown in recent years with some airports deploying the systems to speed up passport control. However, the systems have faced criticism for bias in decision-making when used by police forces.